There don't seem to be very many wins left on the schedule for Matthew Stafford and the Lions. / AP

BY MICHAEL ROSENBERG

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

The Lions are at the halfway point of their season, which means if this were a funeral, it would be time for the eulogy. This is where I come in.

The Lions just lost to Seattle. Jim Schwartz said the game was "filled with errors," yet the Lions still had a chance in the fourth quarter.

"I don't know whether to look at it as glass half-full or glass half-empty," Schwartz said, and this is also where I come in.

The Lions are 1-7, which according to my rigorous statistical formula, puts them on pace for 2-14. The best-case scenario is 3-13. If they go 4-12, we ought to hold a parade, and if they finish 5-11, they should retire the number of every player on the team.

Only three teams have a worse point differential for the season. The good news is that the Lions play one of them -- Cleveland -- at home. The bad news is that another one of the three, St. Louis, already beat the Lions at Ford Field.

Let's give them a victory over the Browns, which is what the Browns plan to do. Where will Win No. 3 come from?

The Lions play at Minnesota this weekend, and my expert analysis on that one is: Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, road game, etc. They are not going to win in Minnesota.

They are also not going to win in Baltimore. Heck, they might not even get a first down in Baltimore.

Can they win in Cincinnati? Before the season, it seemed plausible, but unless you have been drinking heavily since then, how can you make that argument now? The Bengals look like a playoff team, and Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco against the Lions' secondary is not a fair fight. So forget that one.

Arizona means the best receiver in the NFL, Larry Fitzgerald, against the worst secondary in the league.

At San Francisco? Green Bay on Thanksgiving? Chicago at home in the last game of the year, which could be meaningless for both teams? I suppose the Lions could possibly win any of those. But realistically, I don't see how they win more than one of them.

OK, so they stink, but let's face it, you knew the Lions would stink this year. They're rebuilding. We all get it. Three years from now, it won't matter if they finished 2-14 or 4-12. What you want to see, though, are signs of hope. And as a fan, that usually begins with offense, which means it begins with the quarterback.

Matthew Stafford just threw five interceptions against Seattle and got caught by TV cameras having a little tiff with Calvin Johnson. Stafford tried to say something to Johnson, who turned his head away and said nothing. Johnson has practiced that move many times with the media. He is always looking for a shorter way to say "no comment."

Johnson actually answered questions briefly Monday, and to sum up: Yes, he is frustrated by all the losing; no, he does not have a problem with Stafford.

I'll take his word for it. Things tend to get magnified when they're caught on camera. Johnson may have been steamed at Stafford at that moment, but so what? They know they need each other.

Stafford and Johnson are the key to the second half -- not for winning (we've covered that) but for the perception of the franchise. Stafford will continue to struggle; remember, he is supposed to be a senior at Georgia right now. But if Stafford and Johnson can show glimpses of something special, then maybe the Lions can finally start looking up -- and not just at the rest of the standings.